Process Explorer: A Task Manager Replacement for Vista
Unlocking Advanced Process Management with Sysinternals Process Explorer
For those not yet acquainted, the Sysinternals Process Explorer utility is a powerful tool deserving of attention. It provides a significantly more detailed view of system processes than the standard Task Manager, offering insights into process relationships through a hierarchical tree structure.
This allows users to examine virtually all data associated with a process, including linked registry key handles, currently open files, and loaded DLLs. A built-in search function further enhances its utility.
Replacing Task Manager with Process Explorer
Process Explorer can also be configured to supersede Task Manager, a feature detailed in this article. This functionality didn't consistently operate as expected in older versions of Windows Vista.
The default screen displays crucial system metrics. Pay close attention to the small graphs present within the interface.
Clicking on these graphs, or utilizing the Ctrl+I key combination, activates the System Information dialog, revealing even more granular data. Simply hover your mouse cursor over any spike in the graph to identify the application responsible for that activity.
Important Update
Recent iterations of Process Explorer are fully compatible with Windows Vista, rendering the following information primarily for historical context.
The issue arises when attempting to enable the "Replace Task Manager" option within Windows Vista while User Account Control (UAC) is active.
Note: If UAC has been disabled, the remainder of this guide is unnecessary.
Without UAC disabled, an error message will be displayed.
This occurs because Task Manager typically doesn't launch with administrative privileges, and consequently, its replacement doesn't either. A solution involves modifying a registry entry to utilize the Start++ utility's sudo command, elevating the process to administrator status before execution.
First, ensure you have downloaded and installed Brandon Paddock's Start++ utility, which provides the necessary sudo command. Alternatively, the elevate powertoy could be used.
Modifying the Registry
Next, open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key. Deleting this key will revert to using the default Task Manager.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\taskmgr.exe
Locate the "Debugger" value in the right pane and modify it to point to the following command string. Adjust the paths to reflect your username and the location of Process Explorer. Ensure a space separates the two paths.
c:\users\geek\AppData\Local\Start++\CMDs\sudo.cmd c:\users\geek\bin\processexplorer\procexp.exe
Following this adjustment, you should be able to successfully replace Task Manager with Process Explorer.
Download Sysinternals Process Explorer from Microsoft.
Note: Thanks to Steve for bringing this solution to light.